1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a reed relay used for automatically controlled various machines, equipment, systems, etc., and more specifically to a reed ralay of such a type that a permanent magnet is provided therein and the switching action can be made according to the direction that current is passed through an energizing coil in cooperation with the built-in permanent magnet.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An example of the prior-art reed relays of this type has been disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 58-49977. In this reed relay, the permanent magnet is disposed on an assumed extension line of a reed strip having a movable contact at its free end. Since the reed strip is placed within a bobbin or a frame, the reed strip can be inspected only from the outside along the extension line of the reed strip. In the above prior-art reed relay, however, since the permanent magnet is disposed at the front of the movable reed contact (the free end) of the reed strip, this permanent magnet covers the movable reed contact, thus resulting in problems in that it is impossible to inspect or confirm the contact pressure and the contact conditions of the movable reed contact during or after reed relay assembling process. The above-mentioned drawbacks cause the dispersion in reed relay characteristics or the lack of stability in reed relay switching operation.